Procrastination is Golden

In high school, I was a big procrastinator. I would wait until the last possible minute to start studying for finals and term papers...let's not even go there. In college I was the same way - and I hate to admit this but a lot of the time it was with articles I would write for the student newspaper. My dad tells me I inherited this from my mother, who was also an editor and extreme procrastinator. 

For the most part, I try not to let my procrastination get the better of me in my professional life. I think the one remark I hear from a lot of my superiors is that I do things quickly. If you ask me to do something, I do it. And I realized recently that's because if I don't do it right away and get it over with, then I will procrastinate until the very last second to get it done (which is no way to be in the working world). 

It's easy to procrastinate when you're working on deadlines. And for a good chunk of my life, deadlines are what I worked on. I was a writer, an editor, a journalist, a student. Homework was due at 10AM on Monday morning, I would sit down and do it at 10PM the night before. Article is due at 6PM on Thursday night, and I would still be racing to get the last quote at 5:30PM. 

Some people would say it is sheer laziness, and I would have to agree with the kind of work I do now. I know that if my boss asks me to fax something and I just don't do it right away...it's because I'm lazy. But I think with writing and editing, you pull the best stuff out of your head when you're under pressure. I think some of the best stuff I've ever written was written quickly and without over-analyzing. And to avoid over analyzation, you have to write at the last possible second. 

The last few weeks at work I have seen procrastination start to pull at me. My boss is going to be out of town next week and the week after, which means I will be unsupervised for two whole weeks. For the most part, my boss leaves me be - I get my work done when I get it done. He is very hands off, which is a complete 180 from what The Boss was like (who would read my to-do list everyday to make sure I was getting stuff done). 

At times, I love the hands off atmosphere. I feel less stressed and more relaxed at work. I don't feel panicked if I'm three minutes late and I don't feel the need to stay late and pull my hair out to be an ultimate perfectionist (which is what was required of me at my past job). 

Sometimes I do wish that I had a boss who was there more to watch me and make me perform better. But I think I realized just this past week as procrastination set in, that being a grown-up is pushing yourself. Not having a teacher at hand, or an editor, or a boss to push you requires you to do it for you. And I think that is the best lesson that my boss could teach me.